Pandora Music

Pandora Music

Pandora Music

Sunday, September 05, 2010

No, I'm still not dead...

If you're one of the 3 readers who still come by to see where the hell I've gone, I just want to let you know that I an mot dead. Maybe you don't follow me on Twitter or you haven't friended me on Facebook, or maybe not seen the new-ish Tumblr blog... if so, I want to reassure you that I am alive and well. Not only that, so are Ann, Katie and Lily.Work is nuts, travel is about to kick off BIG TIME this coming Friday with trips to Montreal (Expocycle), then Vegas Interbike) and then Utah (Outerbike)... meaning I live out of a suitcase for 3/4's of September.

At the moment, I'm fighting off what I hope is the tail end of a nasty cold/ moderate flu. Ann has been making me tradition Taiwanese ginger tea to help me gain my strength back. I've only missed one day of riding- though I've got so much junk in my chest that my breathing is terrible and I am unable to operate with much power. Still, I've got the best form I've had in years and don't want to see it all vanish into thin air, so I've been trying to make sure I ride a little at least.

That form has been paying off lately with some recent great results on the track- well, certainly great for me and especially when considering the extent of my injuries 2yrs ago. Our track here has a great weekly race series every Tuesday night- the TNR Series as we call it. It's a great series of races and it's my home track... and the track that nearly killed me... but I love it. In recent weeks, during the series of "championship" events for the series, I managed to get 2nd place in the B's Points Race and even won the B's Keirin championship (with 2 straight wins). Still my proudest moment came in getting 2rd overall in the San Diego Cup Challenge Match Sprint. This was the first sprint I've done in several years- at least 4- and the first "tournament" of sprints in close to 10! I won my first two sprints after qualifying 7th and then went on to get 2nd in the semifinal and 3rd in the final. All things considered, I am most proud of that series of performances- even though Keirin is my favorite event of all. As a former, dedicated elite level sprinter, feeling a little closer to being "home" means a lot to this old guy and these old legs. I may never get back to competing at the elite level again, but at least I might have a shot of truly becoming competitive within the masters category... maybe.

So, in closing, I'm not dead, the family is great, things are spastic but very exciting with the Masi line this year and I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of friends on the road during all this upcoming travel. I can't promise I'll be back to regular daily posting here, but I promise I am going to make a real effort to be back a lot more often.

Oh yeah, and if you've been waiting for me to finish the Tour de France coverage so that you can know who won the race... it wasn't Lance.